Daily Recap — June 12

What fortunate souls we are to bear witness to so much history in such a small window of time.

Today, we’ll discuss the latest chapter.

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A HOPEFUL BEGINNING

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The term “historic” is a far too often used descriptive, saturating our lexicon to the point of losing all meaning.

But not this time around.

In this case, it can’t be used strongly enough. The meeting of a North Korean dictator and sitting U.S. president with world peace hanging in the balance can hardly be described as everyday business. Whatever the outcome, the globe will be deeply affected. The only question is to what effect our newfound association will have, and God knows, speculation is not in short supply.

Luckily, you’re a member of RealNewsRevolt.com, which means your diet of speculation is a bit healthier than most. Whaddayasay we get started on figuring this thing out?

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TRUMP PUTS ON A SHOW:

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In Donald J. Trump, the GOP has a luxury never before enjoyed by their ranks: a POTUS who understands optics.

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Trump is a natural showman. Newt Gingrich was called him “a mix of Teddy Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson and P.T. Barnum.” I can’t disagree with that assessment. And this summit might have been Trump’s most spectacular made-for-television event yet, as the globe tuned in to see him pull off an improbable feat in luring the leader of North Korea out of the cold for a summit than none of his predecessors ever dreamed to attempt.

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Characteristically, PDT cited Kim’s praise of his efforts.

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“He said, ‘we have never gone this far.’ I don’t think they’ve ever had the confidence, frankly, in a president that they have right now for getting things done and having the ability to get things done,” Trump said.

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Buttering up his negotiation opponent while bashing Barry Soetoro. If that’s not a Trump move, nothing is.

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As for the optics, perhaps this can’t be attributed to Trump, but Kim was visibly nervous/anxious. Granted, this is a man who has left North Korea a grand total of 3 times since assuming power, so it’s to be expected. But for the layman just watching clips on the news, PDT appeared to be very much in charge and making things happen.

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PDT also did small things like give Kim a peek inside the presidential limo known as “The Beast.” It was a fairly inconsequential moment, but showed an earnest effort to foster good will between our two nations. Do I necessarily want to foster good will with a murderous commie dictator who has been threatening to wipe us off the map? Not particularly, no, but sometimes one must undertake uncomfortable diplomacy in order to stave off a nuclear holocaust. If only the #Resistance could wrap their heads around that concept.

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If you’re a political junkie like myself, optics matter. An event such as this, where Trump is large and in charge and getting things done that former presidents couldn’t, improves numbers from the independent/moderate voter bloc, which is often where winners and losers are decided. From that perspective, the summit was a smashing success. Only the most hardcore Trump haters have found reason to bash the actual production of the summit, but those types would bash him for curing cancer. The normal people approve.

It was a good night politically.

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ROCKET MAN’S TIME IN THE SUN:

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For Kim, the spectacle was almost the entire point of the summit.

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He accepted the ultimate affirmation for his dynastic rule by meeting (and receiving compliments from) a US President on a grand world stage. There are those who are vehemently against (or at least uncomfortable with) an American president giving a dictator such as Kim a platform of this magnitude.

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But, as noted above, this type of uncomfortable diplomacy is necessary if we’re to have any hope of moving the denuclearization ball down the field. Remember, the deal we’re offering is for Kim to become a legitimate leader on the world stage with an economy to match. He has to get at least a taste of that. Trump wants him to see how it feels to the point of not ever wanting to return to hermit status.

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A video was even played for Kim featuring skyscrapers, bustling commerce and all the other trappings that come with a non-communist country. This summit, aside from getting general ideas of what is expected from both sides, was designed to give Kim an idea of how things could be.

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As PDT has said repeatedly for months, “We’re prepared to go hard in either direction.” It’s a smart play, especially as sanctions from the Maximum Pressure campaign continue to make his life miserable.

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One rather depressing aspect of Kim’s big moment was the howling cheers he received from the crowd as he walked around in Singapore. It just goes to prove the so-called Kardashian rule, I suppose: One only need to be famous to get approval. Oh well, it is what it is. Maybe the experience of having people cheer despite not being under threat of execution will leave a lasting impression on Rocket Man. Stranger things have happened, right? I mean, Bill Clinton told the truth once.

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In summation, yes, Kim got the stature he wanted by conducting a high level meeting with the POTUS. Love it or hate it, it’s a necessary part of the process. So long as he understands that it can go just as quickly as it came, we’ll be just fine.

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WHAT DID TRUMP ACTUALLY GET?

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PDT made the case that he had forged an instant friendship with Rocket Man that will uniquely position him to preside over the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

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“He trusts me, I believe, I really do,” Trump said afterward. “I think he trusts me, and I trust him.”

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Those of you who (rightly) cringed at the “and I trust him” line, don’t get worked up. This is diplomatic language meant to keep things rolling. If you think PDT takes Kim’s word for anything without verification, you’re smoking some very good wacky tobaccy.

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So what did PDT actually get? Well, not much, if you’re looking for a tangible concessions.

The joint declaration issued by the two sides after the summit did not appear to make any significant progress in committing the North Koreans to the complete, irreversible and verifiable dismantling of Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal that the administration wants.

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It included a tepid commitment from the North Koreans to “work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and for follow-up talks led from the US side by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

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The use of the word “reaffirmed” in the declaration served to highlight the lack of fresh commitments and it did not include a pledge by Rocket Man for an accounting of its missile and nuclear programs that are the real test for any success in these negotiations.

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PDT said a “comprehensive” document was signed but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It was more or less a vague declaration of willingness to work together. I’d love to be able to tell you that Kim signed his name onto x,y and z but that’s simply not true. Aside from a promise to help recover American soldiers killed in action in the Korean War, it was all vague promise. Negotiation wise, we’re in no better position that before the summit…..at least on paper.

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And “at least on paper” is the operative phrase here, because we don’t know everything that was discussed in those meetings, nor do we know what Trump was able to see in his counterpart. He is very good at reading people, so I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt that the summit was productive.

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But we must also remember that this is the very beginning. Perhaps the details are being worked out to give us a clearer picture of what denuclearization will actually look like; the methods used to get there, the timelines involved, etc. And we should remember that several concessions had been made by Rocket Man before the summit ever began, such as the return of hostages and a halt to nuclear testing.

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Thus, it’s a bit silly to declare the summit an abysmal failure, as Trump haters would have you believe. We’re merely at the starting line. But we must be careful not to declare it a smashing success, either. Kim didn’t put any real meat on the bones during that summit.

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As of now, we’re in a holding pattern to see whether Kim will make some moves to bring his words to fruition.

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WHAT DID TRUMP GIVE UP?

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Two things.

The first, we’ve already discussed in detail. Trump gave Kim an air of legitimacy on the world stage. When you’re the leader of the free world and you offer a meeting to a brutal dictator, yes, the meeting is a gift unto itself. It was a necessary one, though, as we covered above.

The second is sure to give neocons an aneurysm. He agreed to end the so-called war games that have been going on right off the North Korean coast for years. Basically, the military exercises are practice for destroying the North Korean regime. We bomb barren mountains, perform tactical infantry drills on the DMZ, the whole 9 yards. They’ve driven the Kim regime nuts for years.

During my own time in Korea, the North shelled a South Korean island with artillery and sank a South Korean submarine in response to the exercises. Dozens of people were killed. My intel colleagues and I had to work in full battle gear for a few weeks, an unwelcome task for nerds, especially when we all knew that neither South Korea nor Obama were going to do the slightest thing about the attack.

But I digress.

Those exercises have picked up steam since PDT took office, mostly thanks to the appearance of the USS Carl Vinson, a naval strike group that’s meant to send the message: “Our nuclear subs and stealth bombers are here. Say hello.”

I don’t think people understand just how much pressure Rocket Man has been under over the last year. Trump is giving him a small — yes, small — reprieve from that pressure so long as he continues to head in the right direction.

So there you have it, that’s what we’ve given up thus far. The commies have still given up more than we have overall, but they’ll be looked upon to make a serious move soon or those bombing drills will begin anew, #ThatICanTellYou.

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ARE U.S. TROOPS ON THE TABLE?

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I’ve been through this before, but given the uninformed statements being bandied about by our foes, it bears repeating: the short answer is no.

Since PDT conceded the aforementioned pause in military drills, neocons are hysterically wondering whether we’re poised to give China their dream Christmas present: the redeployment of American troops from the region.

Let’s be clear here; there is reason to suspect that this may indeed be on the table at some point. At his heart, Trump is very non-interventionist. Ideally, he wants to solve problems and then get our troops back home. He doesn’t like having our guys stationed everywhere, for both philosophical and financial reasons.

However, no troop withdrawals are on the table at this point. If that’s to ever happen, denuclearization will have to be carried out to verifiable and irreversible completion. Once that happens, assuming it does, then a very real debate will be had regarding our presence in the world, not only on the Korean Peninsula but everywhere else. And that’s good, as it’s a debate long overdue.

Neocons can cry about it all they like. Then again, I doubt many of them have ever been an American soldier in a foreign land. Perhaps it would give them perspective. Or maybe they’re just soulless globalists who don’t care about the long-term effects of our national security strategy.

Either way, they’re going to have a lot to answer for once PDT cleans up all these messes.

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WHAT DOES DENUCLEARIZATION ACTUALLY MEAN?

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I’ve also covered this ad nauseam, but it’s an important point that the know-it-all pundits don’t address nearly enough.

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There was no sign from the summit, at least outwardly, that the two sides had narrowed the contradiction in their positions about what denuclearization actually means. The US says it’s self-explanatory — Pyongyang must get rid of its nukes. Pretty simple, right? Oh if only it were.

The North Koreans define the concept as the disappearance of America’s nuclear umbrella that protects South Korea. This gets back to what we just discussed, namely the redeployment of U.S. troops from the region. That could very well be what North Korea considers “complete denuclearization.” If so, as I just discussed, it’s going to be a matter of “Okay, you first.”

The summit statement also appeared to fall short of previous declarations by the U.S. and North Korea, inked under the regimes of Kim’s grandfather Kim Il Sung and father Kim Jong Il. And now NK is believed to have a nuclear arsenal of 20-60 weapons and is close to putting a device atop an intercontinental ballistic missile that could hit the American homeland.

As of this writing, it’s simply not known exactly where Rocket Man stands on this issue. I know exactly where China stands, as the redeployment of US troops to achieve “denuclearization” is almost certainly their idea, or at the very least being pushed by their very influential regime.

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It’s a wait-and-see game at this point, as is most everything related to this issue. But we should get a clearer picture over the following weeks to months.

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WHAT’S NEXT?

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What happens in the coming months will decide whether the summit comes to be seen as a true breakthrough moment in history or a futile dog and pony show meant to buy Rocket Man some time.

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It will now be up to Mike Pompeo to conduct the kind of exhaustive talks and hard-nosed negotiations that produce specific requirements and report cards for how well they’re being executed.

PDT insisted in Singapore that Rocket Man was serious about his willingness to give up nukes. Everything will now depend on whether Kim has made that strategic choice in order to save his own #BigFat ass and improve his communist economy (hint: the first step is stop being communist).

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As of now, there is still no evidence that Pyongyang has dropped its habitual practice of demanding concessions in a drawn out negotiating process that always leaves its weapons programs intact and its pockets fatter. The good news is, I don’t think Kim is stupid enough to believe that’s how it will go this time around. If he’s learned nothing over the last year and a half, it’s that PDT is not like the presidents before him. He’s not going to be bullied into handing over foreign aid in exchange for empty promises.

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Kim, if you never heeded anyone’s advice in your entire life, this is the time to start.

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Don’t play this thing cute, kid. It will get you killed.

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ROSENSTEIN THE THUG

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It appears that Deputy AG Fraud Rosenstein got so fed up with lawmakers doing their constitutionally mandated oversight jobs that he resorted to deep state thuggery.

The incomparable Catherine Herridge of Fox News reports that Rosenstein threatened he would “subpoena” documents from lawmakers and aides of the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year — a move one staffer described as “downright chilling.”

“The DAG [Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein] criticized the Committee for sending our requests in writing and was further critical of the Committee’s request to have DOJ/FBI do the same when responding,” Kash Patel, then-senior counsel for counterterrorism, wrote to the House Office of General Counsel. “Going so far as to say that if the Committee likes being litigators, then ‘we [DOJ] too [are] litigators, and we will subpoena your records and emails,’ referring to HPSCI [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] and Congress overall.”

Another staffer came forward to support Patel’s claims:

“Let me just add that watching the Deputy Attorney General launch a sustained personal attack against a congressional staffer in retaliation for vigorous oversight was astonishing and disheartening … Also, having the nation’s #1 (for these matters) law enforcement officer threaten to ‘subpoena your calls and emails’ was downright chilling.”

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The FBI, of course, pushed back on the characterization included in the emails.

“The FBI disagrees with a number of characterizations of the meeting as described in the excerpts of a staffer’s emails provided to us by Fox News,” the bureau said in a statement.

Additionally, Rosenstein “never threatened anyone in the room with a criminal investigation,” according to a DOJ official.

“The Deputy Attorney General was making the point — after being threatened with contempt — that as an American citizen charged with the offense of the contempt of Congress, he would have the right to defend himself, including requesting production of relevant emails and text messages and calling them as witnesses to demonstrate that their allegations are false,” the official said, per Fox News. “That is why he put them on notice to retain relevant emails and text messages, and he hopes they did so. (We have no process to obtain such records without congressional approval.)”

What a load of absolute crap. Fraud felt the heat and he threatened people to get it off of him. Why else would he reference the power to subpoena personal emails? Anyone with two brain cells to rub together knew exactly what he was doing.

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The meeting in January just happened to coincide with allegations of FISA abuse made by Devin Nunes. When those allegations arose, many requests for documents were being made, which never sits well with the Deep State or its guardians.

However, a DOJ official notes that “no formal complaint was ever filed” with the General Counsel or the Inspector General about the meeting, while also adding that Rosenstein and Nunes “went to dinner with a mutual friend the night of this meeting and the chairman didn’t raise any concerns about the conversation at that dinner.”

I don’t like that at all. First off, Nunes and everyone else should have made this an issue back in January when it happened. Secondly, what was he doing having dinner with Rosenstein? Who was the mutual friend? Was Nunes simply trying to build a better working relationship with Rosenstein in order to aid his own investigation, or is Nunes the supposed Deep State Slayer actually a member of the good ol’ boys club once the cameras are off?

I sincerely hope it’s the former. God knows, I’ve been let down by too many politicians in my life.

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WHILE WE’RE ON THE DEEP STATE

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A lawyer for former FBI Deputy Director Deep State McCabe has filed a lawsuit in D.C. against his old buddies in the Justice Department and FBI.

According to the filing, the lawsuit stems from the DOJ’s failure to produce certain documents, requested by McCabe’s lawyer David Snyder, pertaining to McCabe’s January 2018 firing.

Snyder argues that DOJ officials are blocking the release of the documents in order to insulate the department from other lawsuits. That’s right, folks, Deep State McCabe is pissed because the DOJ won’t produce documents that make themselves look bad. One could choke on the irony.

“Defendants fear that disclosure to Plaintiff of the documents at issue will place Defendants and others at risk in any proceedings brought against them by Mr. McCabe,” McCabe’s court filing states.

“Based on these fears, Defendants appear to have preemptively decided not to disclose the documents to Plaintiff,” the suit reads.

Snyder says he and McCabe will not “create or adjudicate under secret law or procedure.”

Here is the complete filing from #TeamMcCabe:

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McCabe’s lawyers argue in the complaint that the agency repeatedly refused to identify for him the rules and policies it followed when firing him.

They argue that they “seek to vindicate Mr. McCabe’s rights and restore his good name.”

Seeking to restore Deep State McCabe’s “good name” is like asking Rosie O’Donnell to go light on the makeup in order to restore her natural beauty. This stuff is laugh-out-loud funny, if only the corruption didn’t make my blood boil.

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Today’s filing comes after McCabe’s attorneys said in April that they planned to file suits for wrongful termination and defamation of character against the Trump administration.

“We’ve never seen anything like this before. It does damage not only to Andy McCabe individually but also to the FBI as an institution,” another of McCabe’s attorneys, Michael Bromwich, told Axios.

McCabe’s team said in April that they want those complaints “to be solid. We’ll file when we’re ready.”

Lmaooooooo…..we’ll hold our breath until those complaints become “solid.” What they really mean is they’ll wait until they have enough deep-staters on their side and in the right places to launch a counter-assault against the Trump administration.

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BIG PICTURE:

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McCabe is arguing that the DOJ are withholding documents on his firing in order to protect PDT.

When’s the last time you remember the DOJ doing anything — shady or not — to protect PDT?

IMMIGRATION UPDATE:

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RINOs are scrambling around the Hill trying to scrounge up some sort of last-minute immigration deal that protects Dacamanians.

The actual conservatives on the Hill known as the Freedom Caucus said they were bringing to their members a new legislative offer from the RINO centrists, and that they would provide a response to Paul Rino and Turtle McConnell by the end of the night.

“I don’t have a deal in hand; I have a proposal in hand,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) said as he left the House floor to meet with his caucus. God only knows what sort of globalist horrors are contained within that document.

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Looming over everything is the RINOs’ procedural threat, known as a discharge petition, to compel action this month on four separate bills propping up the DACA program. The RINOs have already gathered 215 signatures on the petition, and maintain they have enough support to hit the magic 218 number, which would force the DACA bills to the floor.

Unfortunately for them, time has become a factor. If they reach 218 endorsements by the end of tonight, it would force immigration votes on June 25. However, a failure to hit the 218 mark by tonight would mean the moderates would have just one more shot, on July 23, to force the issue before the November midterms.

The floor session would stretch until 10 p.m. tonight, leaving a small and closing window for any holdouts to endorse their petition.

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Immigration negotiations had carried through the weekend and into today as lawmakers trickled back into town. A group consisting of reform-minded centrists and conservative immigration hawks huddled in Paul Rino’s office at 5:30 p.m. in search of an elusive deal that strengthens borders (and immigration enforcement as a whole) in exchange for DACA amnesty, which PDT wants to wind down.

Those talks spilled onto the House floor this evening, where Meadows and other Freedom Caucus leaders gathered along the center aisle of the House floor to discuss their next steps. Soon, Paul Rino and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy joined in on the fun.

McCarthy said he was hopeful a deal could be reached late tonight, but also noted that even if the petition supporters get 218 signatures, there was still time to hammer out a deal in the ensuing days.

“If you have enough signatures on the discharge petition tonight, it still does not mean the discharge petition is going forward,” McCarthy told reporters.

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WHAT DO THE IMMIGRATION PROPOSALS LOOK LIKE?

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I’ve actually explained each of the 4 proposed immigration bills in detail, but have since found this handy-dandy chart so as to relay the info without making your eyes bleed.

Here are the basics:

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BIG PICTURE:

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I don’t see any of those bills having the votes to pass. The GOP is divided against itself and anything the RINOs work out with the Dems will likely be vetoed at the president’s desk (unless Trump becomes a moron overnight and betrays his base).

What’s really sad is that the only decent bill of the bunch, the Goodlatte bill, has the least support. That’s why it’s hard to imagine a bill making it past PDT’s desk.

Businesses love cheap labor and Democrats love easy votes. That’s the real truth, and that’s why we can’t get any real immigration reform done, or at least any reform that actually serves the American people.

As long as the Chamber of Commerce wants cheap labor and Democrats want to bring in socialists to keep themselves in power, nothing will get done on immigration. Right now, our best hope if for PDT to get enough dirt on Congress to blackmail them into building the wall.

It’s a sad state of affairs, but it is what it is.

I hope I have better news for you in the future, for the future of our children.

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There it is, homeskillet. You know the drill: questions, comments, concerns, memes, insults, compliments, stickers, jokes, emojis and, if we have time, complaints.

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